In Tears
by Jayne Foyer
Summary: In losing his greatest enemy, he had also lost his only friend.


Ryuzaki stopped talking in the middle of his sentence. For a moment nothing happened, and it felt like Light's heart stopped beating. Could this really be happening? Could this be it? Ryuzaki's fingers went slack; the spoon fell from his fingers and made a clanging sound on the desk, and then his whole body followed suit. He could no longer stay sitting up on the chair. He lost control of his muscles when his heart stopped, and he fell sideways.

Light felt something deep within him. Time slowed down and Ryuzaki's voice played in his mind. As his friend, Light threw himself forward, refusing to allow Ryuzaki's body to touch the ground, to be disrespected like a corpse on the side of the road. This man, this genius, dead or not, could not be allowed to lie limply across the clean floor because he deserved so much more than that. As his friend, Light felt terrified and he felt disbelieving. Ryuzaki couldn't be dead. He was going to wake up any minute now. He hadn't slept, he had never slept and that was why he had passed out. That had to be the reason.

He was cradling Ryuzaki's body in his arms. There was still some kind of awareness in his eyes. He looked up at Light, and Light's heart cracked in two. He knew. He knew who had killed him, and there was nothing he could do about it. Something changed in those eyes, something seemed to bleed out of them, and dark, exhausted eyelids covered those shining eyes.

A change in feelings, in people. As Kira, Light leaned over the body, his shoulders shaking. Chief Yagami's heart broke for his son, weeping silent sobs over his friend's corpse. As Kira, Light kept his laughter silent and lowered his face to L's chest so that the men in the room couldn't see his smile. Then, erasing the smile as best he could, he lifted his head slightly. L's face was still warm. Light's head hovered over his friend's empty body for a moment, then he lowered his face once again and pressed his lips to L's cheek. In his killer's arms, he almost felt alive.

Light let the Kira's feeling of triumph slide away from him, and only horror remained. Could it really be possible? Was Kira successful? Surely Ryuzaki wasn't _really _dead; he wouldn't have allowed it, never.

"Hey, Ryuzaki, come on. Snap out of it!" Light father began to speak, as well as the other men in the room, and Light was fully aware that he was Kira and that L was dead because of him, but then he realized he was touching a dead body – no less, the body of Ryuzaki, of Hideki Ryuga, of L himself. His friend. He realized that he would never hear Ryuzaki's obnoxiously self-assured voice ever again, and he would never be able to talk about his theories with Ryuzaki ever again, and, and for some reason this hurt the most, he would never play a game of tennis with Ryuzaki ever again. In losing his greatest enemy, he had also lost his only friend.

This pounded through Light's head all at once, and it bubbled up from somewhere deep inside of him, past his chest and through his throat into his mouth. A horrified, bleak scream wrenched his lips apart and tore the remaining tension in the room in two. His breathing was uneven and loud and the reality of Kira overwhelmed him.

L's body felt heavy in his arms. "We're going to die!" he screamed at his father. "Watari, Ryuzaki – it'll be us next!" Everyone gasped and they cowered, as if it would help if their names had been written. Light's hands were on L's chest and back, and he should be feeling a heartbeat, but he wasn't. "Damn you!" he shouted. "Where are you, shinigami? Come out!"

Aizawa knelt next to Light and took L from him, supported his body. Light stood up, relieved to be away from that corpse. "You know something about this, don't you?" he screamed. "Come on out!" He ran forward, out of the room, and the others followed him in seconds.

They all saw the tears trailing off of his cheeks, flung into the air behind him as he ran.

Not a single one of them saw the smile on his face.

* * *

I always thought FMA would be the only anime I was really really into.

I was wrong.

Please go thank my friend, pen name The Catching Light Alchemist, for getting me into Death Note.

I know Light didn't actually kiss L on the cheek, but considering a certain washing of feet going on earlier, I thought I could stretch the analogy a little bit further. And notice the death itself wasn't a betrayal - the betrayal was the faux innocence. Oh Light, I love you far more than I should.

So yes this is short but I liked it. What do you think?


End file.
